Better Than Revenge
by YourRoyalC-RokHighness
Summary: Upon the news that Ziva's new boyfriend is moving in with her in DC, Tony feels jealousy crawl up his back. However, when he catches him cheating on her, Tony feels torn between breaking her heart or keeping her happiness. TIVA!


The elevator doors at NCIS slid open and revealed Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, a fruit smoothie in one hand and his cell phone in the other.

"Move little blocky!" He cheered as he made beeping noises, "Boop, boop, boop." The tetris block went down into the hole on the screen and deleted a row, "Yeahh!" he hollered, "High score." He threw his bag lazily down next to his desk as he stared at McGee, who was readily typing something onto his computer screen.

"Tetris again, Tony?" He questioned, glancing up quickly and that was it.

"Yes, probie." he nodded, "Much better than that elf lord game you play all that time."

"It's called 'World of Warcraft' and I don't play it all the time."

"Sure you don't." Tony chuckled, hanging up his jacket and placing his gun in the drawer of his desk, "That's why you get all the women you want."

"Shut up." he muttered, "I choose to live my life that way, not fawning over girls like you do."

"Tony is googling the girls again?" Former Mossad Officer Ziva David questioned as she walked into the squadroom, setting her bag down next to her desk.

Tony grinned as he looked at his partner. Beautiful as always, her hair down and straight for once, she smiled back at him. She'd never know that that was his favorite way to see her hair. At least, in his opinion it looked the best that way. "Ziva, Ziva, Ziva." He cooed, "I do not 'google' any girls except for Catherine Zeta-Jones. She is smoking!"

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Tony."

A small silence passed between them and Tony tapped his pen on his desk, "So.." He started, trying to break the awkwardness, "Ziva." She glanced up at him.

"Hmmm?"

"Whatcha doing tonight? Gotta hot date?"

"Why do you wanna know?" She pressed.

"Just wondering if you wanted to grab a drink or something after work." Tony shrugged his shoulders.

"Actually.." She paused. Should she say it? Should she really tell him? "I do have a date." She said, confidently, a smug smirk on her face.

"Really?" Tony questioned, popping an eyebrow. He was suddenly interested in the conversation at hand. He leaned forward in his seat and rested his arms on the desk, leaning forward, "Who's the guy and what's wrong with him?" He joked.

She smiled back, knowing his game, "Ray." She said, simply and she watched as Tony flustered, sitting back into his seat.

"He's coming to DC?" He questioned and she nodded her head.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" She furrowed her eyebrows together.

"I mean, why is he coming to DC? Can't find a job in sunny ol' Miami?"

"You're not gonna be able to find a job in DC if you don't get to work." Gibbs' voice sounded into the bullpen as he walked towards his desk, opening up his drawer and pulling out his gun, "Gear up, we got a dead petty officer in Norfolk."

"Man," Tony whined as he stood up and grabbed his ball cap from behind his desk, "That's like a four hour drive boss."

"Then take a leak before you get there." He said as he started out of the bullpen, "Gas the truck." He tossed the keys over his head and Tony caught them, groaning as he kicked his desk.

"Someone seems to be in a chicken mood this morning."

"The term is 'foul'" Tony said, shaking his head as McGee came up to them.

"He's just jealous." McGee smirked.

"Can it, McRomance. _You _gas the truck." He shoved the keys at him, "I gotta take a leak." Tony brushed angrily past McGee and Ziva, who looked at each other.

"Oh, he's jealous." McGee nodded, smirking.

"Very." Ziva agreed as they headed towards the elevator.

* * *

"Feel that ocean air!" Tony smiled as he got out of the car.

"Tony. It's freezing!" McGee shouted, wrapping his arms around himself, "The air is cold."

"That's a downstatement." Ziva chattered.

"Understatement!" Tony corrected, groaning. The three moved to the back of the truck and each grabbed their gloves and the other equipment needed. McGee fixed his ballcap on his head.

"How can Gibbs just stand there?" McGee questioned, looking across the way to the pier that Gibbs was now on, talking to the local LEO's.

"Because, McObservation." Tony said, "The man runs with coffee in his veins. Hot, hot coffee."

"Speaking of coffee." Ziva interjected, "Let us go down there before Gibbs' gets too cold."

"Good idea." Tim nodded as the three started down the stairs to the pier.

The two victims, Brad Torrence and Eliza Baker were shot at point blank range in the chest, the wounds nearly symmetrical to each other. Little other damage was found, and they laid side by side on the white boards.

"Well I don't think these two woke up this morning and thought they were gonna get shot." Tony commented and Ziva rolled her eyes as she snapped a photo of the victims, stepping around them to get another shot.

"I would think not." Ziva commented as Ton grinned.

"Maybe they were, on the way to a hot date. And then they got blasted with a 'Ray'." Ziva stopped and looked up at the chuckling senior field agent.

"I may no longer be in Mossad, but I still have not lost my training, To-nee." She smirked.

"Oooh, ninja Mossad moves. I'm sure 'Ray' likes them too." He teased, but Ziva swore that she heard a ting of jealousy in his voice. She smirked again. Good.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs' voice boomed, "Are you doing work or just standing around?"

"Doing work, boss." Tony said, pulling out his clipboard and clicking his pen, "Always working. 24/7 working. You know me. All work all the time, nothing else!"

Gibbs smirked, "Go and interview the witness." He nodded his head towards the woman who was dressed in very short shorts, a long sleeved tight shirt and running shoes. Obviously, she had been on a jog this morning.

"My pleasure." Tony smiled as he strode towards the woman.

"Pig." Ziva muttered under her breath as Ducky and Palmer approached McGee and Ziva at the crime scene.

"Duck." Gibbs nodded.

"Jethro." Ducky chirped, "What a tragedy, for these two." He shook his head as he stared at them, "How they died, however, is not a mystery. I mean, anyone with eyes can see what happened to these two." He moved around the body to where Ziva was, "Two rounds in each of them, straight in the heart. I would say 8 caliber. There's nothing much else I can do here, besides bag the bodies." He glanced up, "Mr. Palmer, if you may."

"Certainly, doctor." He smiled.

"Alright, get them back to Autopsy." Gibbs nodded, "I'm gonna go check on DiNozzo."

"So," Tony started, staring at the woman who was obviously getting over the traumatizing event, "You found them when?"

"At around 7:30 this morning, when I go on my normal jog. I always run by the piers; the water calms my mind."

"And what exactly did you see?"

"Just two bodies...laying there..." Her hands started to shake and she sniffled, "I don't even know them and yet.." she sighed, "I hate death."

Tony sighed and then nodded. How come he wasn't attracted to this girl? Maybe it was because she didn't have eyes like Ziva.. stop thinking about Ziva! His mind shouted at him. She has her own man now, leave her alone. You missed your chance.

"And you're sure that's all you saw?"

"Yeah, that's all I know." She nodded, sniffling again and wiping a tear away that threatened to fall out of her eye.

"Well my name's Special Agent DiNozzo, if you find any information regarding our couple, please let me know, ASAP." He pulled out a card and handed it to her, "Thank you..." he looked down at his clipboard, "Jennifer Moss."

She nodded, "You're welcome, Agent DiNozzo. I tried the best I could." She shrugged, smiling a bit as Tony turned to walk away.

She glanced down at the card and then called for him, "Agent DiNozzo?"

He turned back around, "Yeah?"

"Can I call this number at any time?" She suggestively asked.

He paused and then answered, "Only if you know something about the case." He nodded and then turned promptly around and walked back to the crime scene where Ducky and Palmer were bagging up the bodies.

"What'd you find out, DiNozzo?" Gibbs questioned him as he returned.

"Nothing boss, she just found them here at around 0730h."

"Ducky said time of death was an hour before that."

"Well she's the only witness we got." Tony sighed.

"I know. We'll know more about these two when we get background research done. When we get back, McGee, I want you to see if you can find any sort of surveillance on these piers, check the bank records of the two and get the evidence to Abby. Ziva, Tony, I want you two running background checks on our two suspects. We need to know if they had any enemies."

"On it, boss." McGee said as he started back up the stairs. Gibbs followed and Tony waited back for Ziva.

"So.." Tony started as he caught up in step with her.

"Yes?" She questioned.

"Why's your 'Ray of Sunshine' coming into town?" He poked.

"Why do you care so much?" she fired back.

"Because I'm an investigator. It's kinda what I do." She smirked.

"I see." She laughed inwardly, "Well investigate why he is coming to Washington DC, Special Agent DiNozzo."

"What is this a game?" He questioned as they reached the truck, moving to the back to put their stuff away. It wasn't until she turned around that he was dangerously close to her and she felt her heart rate accelerate. However, she kept her cool.

"If you want it to be." she teased, getting inches from his face and then ducking out and around him to go back to the front of the truck.

"Game on, Ziva David." He grinned as he closed the back door of the van.

Hopefully jealousy wouldn't lose him any points.

* * *

Back at the bullpen, Gibbs marched in, a fresh cup of coffee in his hand, "Whaddya got?"

McGee was the first to stand up, the clicker to the TV in his hand, "Brad Torrence, married, no children. Wife's name is Jessica. She is at work, said she couldn't miss any and she'd be by after work." He clicked it and the second picture popped up, "Our second victim is Eliza Baker, married to Richard, two children but they do not have custody of them. Grandparents do and they live down in Florida."

"Why don't they have custody of them?" Gibbs questioned.

"Richard and Eliza got into a fight about 5 years ago, kids witnessed all of it. Social services decided that the home wasn't safe anymore and sent them."

"Well, this certainly won't help the situation." Tony commented, earning an elbow in the stomach from Ziva, who stood slightly in front of him.

"I called him, boss, he said that he will be here in about an hour. He works in Fredericksburg." Tony added.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "So about two hours in traffic."

Tony grinned, "So that would be a great amount of time to grab a bite, right boss?"

"Anytime is a great time for you, DiNozzo." McGee replied.

"Stuff McSarcasam."

"Who said I was being sarcastic?" McGee fired back. Ziva rolled her eyes at the two and sat down at her desk.

Tony watched his boss as he started to leave the bullpen, "Fine. Go get lunch. But you better be back before our Mr. Baker gets here, or don't bother coming back."

Ziva responded by immediately picking up her phone, while McGee got up from his desk quickly and headed towards the elevator.

"You wanna get lunch, Tony?" McGee asked, standing in front of his senior field agent's desk."

"...I will meet you there. Okay. Todah."

"No thanks, probie. I've got plans." Tony said as he stood up from his desk. He jogged a little to catch up with his partner, "Where you going, Ziva?"

"To lunch." She replied, a smile on her face.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Actually yes, Tony."

"You mind? Or you don't mind? Because your English often confuses me."

She sighed, "I mind."

"Why do you mind? We've had lunch before."

The elevator dinged at the bottom floor and the pair walked off, "Because I am meeting someone."

"Ray of sunshine?" Tony asked. Ziva cut her eyes over at him, "Ah, come on Zi. I wanna meet him."

"Why?" She questioned as they stopped in the middle of the parking garage, "Why is it so important that you meet him?"

"Because. I want to. Make sure he's good enough, you know."

"And you are qualified to make that decision?"

Tony put on an even bigger smile, "Why yes, yes I am." Ziva crossed her arms and waited on him to continue, "You see, I've dated a lot..."

"This I know, Tony."

Tony ignored her and continued, "...And I can tell when two people don't connect, ya know. It's like a thing with me. I was born with it."

"We connect. I promise. Have a nice lunch, Tony." She started to walk towards her mini when Tony caught up with her again.

"I'll only follow you, Ziva." He smiled again and Ziva pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Fine, Tony. But you will be on your best behavior, right?" Tony started to speak when she grabbed his wrist and twisted it in the most uncomfortable way, "_Right?"_

"Of course!" Tony managed to say. He hoped that she would let go after he agreed, but she only held it tighter, "Uh, Ziva, the arm?"

"And you will not call him any nicknames such as Ray of sunshine, right? You will call him Ray, right?"

"Ziva, the arm!" Tony groaned.

"Right?" Ziva yelled, her voice echoing in the garage.

"Yes, yes, okay! Whatever you say!"

She smirked, dropping his arm, "You should say that more often, Tony." Ziva opened her car door as Tony walked around to the passenger seat, her mind racing. _When should I tell him? Now? Before we get to the restaurant? When we get there? _

Oh damn.

* * *

Ziva's mini pulled up at KinKead's restaurant and the duo got out and headed inside, "He's already here?" Tony asked. He was practically jumping up and down like a kid in a candy store.

Ziva was already embarrassed, "No. He should be here in a few minutes." The waiter sat them at a table for three and promised a waiter would be there shortly.

"So how tall is he?" Tony asked. Ziva looked over at him, majorly confused.

"I do not know, Tony, we haven't got out the measuring stick yet."

Tony laughed, "I thought that would be on the first date."

"Trust me. One is not needed." Tony quickly lost his smile as Ziva put on one and stood, kissing and hugging the man that approached her. Tony walked around to the left side of Ziva and waited until they finished their public display of affection. And frankly, it was making him sick. When the man finally turned and acknowledged Tony, he stretched out his hand.

"Ray, this is Tony. He is my partner. Tony, this is my boyfriend, Ray." Tony tried to stop his gut from churning at the words 'my boyfriend' coming out of Ziva's mouth. _Jesus, DiNozzo. Get a grip._

"Oh, how you doing? Glad you could join us." Ray said, a smile plastered on his face as he took Tony's hand and shook it. The three returned to their seats and Ray immediately started with the small talk, "So how long have you two been partners?"

"For five years now, since I came to NCIS."

"Wow, that is a long time. You two must really trust each other, huh?"

"Yeah we do." Tony commented.

"How long have you been with NCIS, Tony?" Ray asked, a smile still on his face, with his fake whitened teeth, Tony noticed.

"Ten years." Tony said, nodding slightly.

"Wow, ten years? That's great. I am very interested in the work that Ziva does." The three made their drink orders, and then Ray continued. "Ziva told me that you and Agent Tibbs and Agent McGee went to save her in Africa last year?"

"That's Agent _Gibbs_, and yes, we did."

"Agent Gibbs, right. Well, I am certainly glad you did." He turned and looked at Ziva, "Or we would've never met." Ziva smiled at him and Tony chuckled sarcastically.

"Yeah well, couldn't let that bastard kill her. She is my partner." The waitor sat down their drinks and took their food orders and disappeared again. "Not drinking, sweetheart?" He asked, looking at Ziva.

"We are on duty." She replied, smiling back at him. "We cannot drink."

"Oh, yeah, sure. That makes sense."

Tony was the next to speak, "So, Ray, how long are you in DC?"

"I'll be here for a long time." He smiled and turned to Ziva, taking her free hand.

Ziva squeezed his hand slightly, "Yes, he will be here for a while."

"Well that is just great." Tony said, "You two will be close together, so you can see each other pretty often, huh? Of course, you know, sometimes Ziva and I have late hours, well, because our boss is psycho and he never sleeps, so we have to keep up with him when he's dead set on a case." Tony was kicking himself mentally. Was that really as dumb as it sounded?

Ray chuckled, "Oh yeah, I understand. Ziva's work is very important to her. And if it's important to her, than it's important to me."

Tony put on a fake smile, "Good, good." He turned to his partner and patted her on the shoulder, "Well, Zi, it looks like you've got yourself a good man." Tony said, and just as the waiter sat down their plates, Tony's cell phone began to rang. "DiNozzo. Yeah. Yeah, okay. We're on our way." He snapped his phone shut and looked at Ziva, "Well, as good as this looks, we'll have to box it. That was McGee. He said that Baker's cell was less than 30 miles away. He'll be there soon."

Ziva looked at him, "Oh, well we have to get back." Tony nodded to confirm.

Once outside, Tony stretched his hand out again for Ray to take. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well, Agent DiNozzo. We'll have to have drinks when you're off duty."

Tony chuckled sarcastically, "Yeah. Sure." He walked down to the parking lot and to Ziva's car. He leaned on it and crossed his feet and arms, waiting and watching the couple again.

It was almost painful to watch as one of his hands were on her neck, the other around her in the small of her back. Her body was flush with his and their lips were engaged in a romantic kiss. He looked down at his watch and rolled his eyes, "Oh come _on_ already." He groaned.

Once they finally finished, Ziva walked down the stairs and headed towards the car as he walked in the opposite direction to his Jaguar.

"Wow, I'm surprised your lips aren't blue from lack of oxygen." Tony said as soon as Ziva was in earshot.

"I have had a lot of practice." She said, a smirk on her face.

Tony sat down in her passenger seat and immediately buckled his seat belt for the roller coaster ride. "He drives a Jag, huh?"

Ziva put the car in motion and shrugged her right shoulder, "I guess so."

Tony shook his head. "I don't like men that drive Jaguars."

Ziva looked at him, and to his surprise, she was smiling, "I do."

"Ziva, the way you drive is considered a cruel and unusual punishment." Tony said, almost kissing the ground once the car was in park.

"It is in some countries. Or at least I have heard."

Tony rolled his eyes at her response and followed her to the entrance, "So uh, he's staying for a while?"

Ziva swallowed the lump that was in her throat, "Yes."

She let the elevator scan her eye and the two walked onto the elevator, "So, he'll be staying with you, I assume." Ziva nodded for confirmation, she was suddenly uncomfortable in the small space. "You okay?" Tony asked, and she looked up at him and smiled.

"I am perfectly fine." Tony scrunched his eyebrows together and suddenly felt like his boss as he stepped forward and flipped the emergency switch. "Tony, we have to get back to work." Ziva replied, and reached for the switch. Tony grabbed her hand and held it, sending sparks through the Israeli. Did he honestly still have that affect on her?

"There's something you're not telling me." Tony said plainly.

"Tony..." Ziva started, but his intense stare prevented her from going any further. It was silent for several seconds.

"You're engaged, aren't you?" Tony finally said. He didn't even want to hear the answer, but he had to ask.

Ziva felt her mouth fall open, "No, no. I am not engaged." Tony let out a deep breath, and felt his blood start pumping again from the few seconds his heart had completely stopped. "But Ray and I are pretty serious." She took a deep breath, "And we are moving in together."

Tony let go of her hand, "Oh." He flipped the emergency switch again, "You're moving out of your apartment?"

"Yes." The doors slid open again.

"But you love that place." Tony protested, "And I love that couch you've got. It's so comfy."

Ziva chuckled, "Well the couch will be moving with me."

"But there's just something about it in that spot you've got it in."

"Perhaps I will leave the couch, and then you can move in and be happy with each other."

They were now at their desks, "Ziva, you love that apartment." He said again.

"Yes, Tony, I have enjoyed that apartment. But I want to move into a bigger place."

"I don't think it's a good idea." Tony said, earning a look from Ziva.

"I think it's a good idea for the two of you get to work." Gibbs said, walking in. "McGee, Ziva, interrogation 1, Tony, go see what Abby's got." The three agents stood from their desks all at once and headed for the elevator.

"Ziva..."

"I do not need your opinion, Tony." She said.

"You sure you can't have a drink?"

"Yes."

"Just so...everyone knows," McGee started, "I am in the elevator."

Tony cracked a smile and looked back at the junior agent, "Really? Haven't noticed." McGee rolled his eyse and walked between them when the doors opened, and Ziva followed him. Tony opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when the doors closed in front of him. He shook his head in disbelief. It was his own fault.

* * *

As he neared the lab, the blasting music was almost deafening. "Abby?" He called, "Abs!" He yelled, louder this time. The goth finally heard him and turned, smiling big when she saw him. To his relief, she turned down the music.

"Hey Tony!"

"Hey Abs." He groaned when she hugged him tightly. "Nice to see you too." When she finally let go, Tony walked over to her computer, "You got anything?"

"Where's Gibbs?"

"In interrogation." Tony replied, "He sent me."

"Oh. Okay." She shrugged and walked over to her computer. "They were shot with the same kind of weapon, but it was two different guns."

"Copycat?"

"Very possible."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah." She typed rapidly on her computer, "I got Mr. Torrence's tox screen back, and it looks like the poison wasn't working fast enough, so whoever did this decided that a nice bullet would work better."

"He was poisoned?"

"Yep. With small doses of anti-freeze. It was working, I would say he only had about four doses to go before he was hospitalized."

"Hm. That all?"

"All I've got so far. I'm searching to see if either of the two guns were bought recently. But it's a long shot."

"Okay." Tony grinned and leaned over to kiss the goth on the cheek, "Thanks Abs."

She smiled, "Anytime!"

Tony nodded at her and turned to leave when he stopped, before the music got loud again, "Hey, Abby, have you met Ray?"

"Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray..." She nodded, "Yes. Ray. Ziva's boyfriend."

"Oh you've met him?"

"Yeah, I was with Ziva for drinks. He came to pick her up and we chatted for a while." She grinned.

"Really, well, what did you think of him?"

"He is very nice." She said, a smile still on her face. Tony nodded very slowly and looked at her, a small smile on his face and his eyes narrowed.

"What do you _really_ think of him?" Tony asked.

"I just told you!" Abby replied. She held her posture for a few seconds before letting out a breath, "Okay, I was never any good at lying. The guy is nothing but a jerk. I could tell that he's only using Ziva. He doesn't really love her."

"Whoa, whoa. Who said anything about love?" Tony said, chuckling a little, "Just because they're moving in together doesn't mean they love each other."

"They're moving in together?" Abby said, "Oh no. Tony, you gotta stop them. He's only gonna break Ziva's heart. I just know. I can tell."

"I'm trying, Abby, but I'm not getting very far." Tony replied. "Look, don't tell Ziva I told you. She's already pretty mad at me."

"Okay. Just...stop it, okay?"

Tony put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm trying Abby." She smiled in response.

"Glad someone is on my side."

Tony chuckled and left the elevator stopped one floor up and one Timothy McGee and Ziva David boarded. "Done?" Tony asked.

Tim shook his head. "Said he had an alibi this morning. Gotta check it out."

Tony nodded. There was silence between the three until the elevator stopped again. "Ziva, can I talk to you for just a second?"

"No, Tony." She continued to walk towards the bullpen until he grabbed her arm lightly.

"Ziva, I don't think it's a good idea for you to move in with this guy."

"I do not care what you think, DiNozzo!" She almsot shouted. Tony shook his head.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry. I am. I don't really know him all that well. I shouldn't make assumptions."

"No. You should not."

"To prove I'm sorry, I'll help you move."

Ziva smirked. "Fine. I have a lot of boxes of books to move."

"I don't do books," he said as he dropped her arm, "I do pillows." He grinned.

She chuckled and walked to the bullpen.

Tony sighed. At least now, he had a couple of chances to talk to her.

Before she made a huge mistake.

* * *

Tony groaned as he got out of the car in front of Ziva's apartment. Ziva's Mini Cooper was already in front of his, and he watched her figure get out of the car, slamming the door shut.

He sat there for a minute, contemplating what he was supposed to do. How was he, Tony DiNozzo, supposed to stand up to the big bad former Mossad ninja assassin Ziva David?

She was stubborn as hell, he knew that, everyone knew that.

"Are you coming?" Ziva demanded, staring at Tony in his parked vehicle.

"Of course I am!" He opened the door and got out, closing it, "Just staring at your beautiful apartment." He grinned, catching up to her, "I mean, who would ever wanna move out of this?" He gestured towards it and she rolled her eyes.

"A better question would be, who would want to move in with _this_?" She gestured towards Tony and he felt his blood run cold. His smile faltered a little and he sighed. _That actually hurt. _He thought to himself. But, being Tony DiNozzo, he put on the facade, lit his face up and got a bright smile back, as if it was a joke.

"I mean," he chuckled nervously, "Who wouldn't? I'm Tony DiNozzo."

She laughed sarcastically, "Hah! Whatever you say." She shook her head, "I want this done fast and quickly."

"Those two words mean the same thing.." Tony started and she cut her eyes at him. He gulped and followed her up the stairs.

The rest of the climb was silent and they made it to Ziva's apartment. She inserted the key, turned it, and then opened it up.

Tony grinned at the sight, everything was where he had left it last time he was there, except there were boxes everywhere. And it smelled like a different man and Ziva. He felt his blood churn. Why was he getting so upset over this? It's not like Ziva wasn't allowed to date anyone else. And it wasn't like he hadn't had his chance with her. I mean, they had been working together for many, many years.

He walked over to the mantle of the fireplace, looking at the pictures he had memorized in his sleep. The one of her, Tali, and Ari. The one of her and Abby at the Halloween party last year. The one of the entire NCIS team. Tony had even put up one of her in the bikini, just to make it a joke. But, the last one cut him deep. Where there was supposed to be a picture of him and Ziva was instead a picture of Ray and Ziva.

"Tony." Ziva called, "Tony." She called again, louder this time, but he seemed too lost in his own world to truly figure out what was even going on. "TONY!" She shouted and he snapped his head towards her.

"What?" He demanded, "I'm not deaf, woman."

She scoffed, "I just called you three times. Get your hearing checked and start packing those pictures into this box." she kicked one towards him as she started into her bathroom, "I'm going to put my toiletries away."

"Yeah, you do that." He couldn't think of any good jokes. He sighed and pulled the box closer to him, slowly packing the pictures away.

About ten minutes later, Tony heard aloud crash, followed by a groan from the bathroom. He popped his head up, "Ziva?" he questioned.

"Come help me you idiot!" She managed to groan out and that was all it took; he sprinted towards the bathroom, jumping over the couch in the process. He skidded into the bathroom and found Ziva on the ground, her arm slightly bleeding and the shelves in the medicine cabinet crumbled in a heap on the tile. The ointments, lotions, and medicine bottles were now spewed all over the floor, but Tony disregarded that as he squatted down next to her and took her injured arm in his. Blood was flowing profusely from it and he grabbed the closest towel he could find to help stop the bleeding, "Tony it's not that bad, just make sure this...stuff." She looked around the floor, "Is put back into the box."

"Um...no." He shook his head, "I'm definitely helping you out first, I don't care whatcha say, Miss David." Hopefully he'd be able to call her that...until he could change it. He paused. Did he really just think that?

He wiped the blood away, cleaned the wound and then patted it dry before applying ointment and bandaging it up. They both sat on the floor for a minute as Tony carefully, slowly wrapped the bandage around her arm. She looked at him, "Thank you." She quietly said, turning away, as if embarrassed.

"No problem." He gave her a small smile, "You're my partner, I'm supposed to help you out."

"That's what you call it." She muttered under her breath.

"Well what am I supposed to call it then?" he questioned, and she was taken aback. As if he couldn't hear her, hah!

"I.." She couldn't find the answer to Tony's question. For once. She felt...small compared to him. She hated the feeling and rebutted, trying to get 'big' again, "Why are you so intent that I keep this apartment?" She questioned, staring into his eyes.

He sighed, looked down a little, and then moved from his squatting position to sitting down, "Well I just think...you're a very strong, independent woman that...doesn't need a crazy Miami guy like Ray to help you through your new life in America. I mean," he chuckled sarcastically, "Come on! That guy probably doesn't know two things about DC or anything but drinking, tanning, surfing, and sex!"

"Like you?" She questioned and he laughed.

"I don't look like an orange like him. Guess it makes sense though, he is from the sunshine state. Don't they have little oranges on their license plates too? Or is that a different state? I don't know."

"Tony? Tony DiNozzo? Doesn't know something about cars?" She laughed.

"Oh I know everything about cars." He rebutted, "Just like I know that he's totally driving a chick mobile around DC at the moment. I just don't know much about license plates, just that they help you solve a murder."

"Looks like I learned something new about you." She commented and he shrugged.

"I'm a very complicated man, David." He said, his voice growing deep and seductive, as if trying to lure her in.

She just stared at him, "I have known you for a _very _long time, DiNozzo. You are not that complicated."

"Am too!" he protested.

"Tony." She said firmly, and his smile dropped from his face. He knew that tone. It was serious. Either she was mad at him, or wanted a deep conversation with him. She reached out and lightly touched his face, "You are simple."

"How?" he questioned, his voice almost a whisper.

"You are a quirky, class clown who hides behind a tough exterior, afraid to let people in. Afraid to...get hurt again." Tony's gaze with her eyes slightly faltered as he looked down for a second or two and then returned to meet her stare, "You are a very sensitive man." Did she really just put an emphasis on 'man'? Tony thought so, "So do not think you are complicated." She shook her head, "You are very simple."

Tony smiled, "Maybe to a ninja Mossad assassin like you. But to-"

"-All the other blond dumbos you pick up at the bars, you are." She finished, smiling slightly.

"It's _bimbos, _Ziva. Not 'Dumbos'. Dumbo is-"

"-Like the elephant, yes?" She questioned, "From the man who made the mouse with the ears?" She made two ears on top of her head with her hands.

"Walt Disney?" He questioned, laughing slightly, "Yeah. That'd be Mickey Mouse."

"That's it!" She exclaimed.

"But I don't pick up elephants at the bar. Even though some of them look like elephants. And smell like them too." He made a disgusted face, looking off at the wall, shuddering slightly, "I don't pick up Dumbos."

Ziva just smiled and attempted to stand up, but Tony kept her down, "What?" She questioned, not resisting for once.

Tony was almost shocked, but he didn't wanna miss out on the moment, "I don't think you should move in with someone. In my personal experience, you haven't been together for long enough in order to know if this is what you really want."

"Tony." She sighed, "I am not changing my mind." She went to get up again when she stopped and sat back down. Her eyebrows were furrowed this time, "Tony.." She started and he looked at her.

"What?"

"Are you jealous?" She said, pausing a moment before she asked.

He stared at her. Was he jealous? His blood boiled all the time when he even thought of Ray, much less Ziva with another man. He was. Damn it, he was. But would he admit that to Ziva? Hah! Nice try. "Only of Bill Gates." He said, standing up, "He's got a boat load of cash." And with that, he left the bathroom, leaving Ziva among the bottles to contemplate her thoughts.

* * *

The boxes were packed around 1 AM, and Tony was beat. He loaded the last one into the moving truck and then turned to Ziva. "You ready yet?" he questioned and she nodded, heading towards her mini cooper, "You're not even gonna say goodbye to the place?"

"Why should I?" she questioned, "It is just an apartment, yes?"

Tony sighed, "I guess."

"Look." She said, firmly, "I just want to get to the apartment. With Ray."

Tony rolled his eyes. As the night wore on, his patience got thinner and thinner. He was tired of hearing about Ray. Ray this, Ray that. Ray everything.

He just told the driver of the truck to go and then got into his own car, driving off past Ziva.

About ten to fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Ziva and Ray's new apartment. Ziva managed to get in front of Tony and get out of the car, the moving truck pulling up last.

"Get the boxes." Ziva demanded. She didn't even ask!

"What?" Tony questioned, his patience running thin, "You're not gonna even _ask_?"

"Just do it, DiNozzo." She snapped.

"Whatever you say, your highness." he sneered back. He opened up the back of the truck and grabbed a box.

"That's all you can take?" She shouted and Tony growled inwardly. He was never gonna get anywhere with this woman. He followed her, nevertheless, up the stairs and to the door of their new apartment, 27C. Ziva suddenly had a smile on her face as she knocked on the door. It took a couple of seconds, but Ray opened the door and smiled at her. He embraced her warmly and Tony pushed through them, dropping the box in the middle of the entryway.

"Excuse you?" Ray questioned, "I think we might have a problem here." He examined Ziva's arm and showed it to Tony, who just stared at it, "What the hell is this?"

"She fell and I bandaged her up. Got a problem with that, _Ray_?"

"Yeah!" He said, "As a matter of fact, I do. That's supposed to be my job, this is my babe, not yours." Ziva narrowed her eyes at the term of endearment.

Tony chuckled, "Yeah, well. I know a hell of a lot more than you do about her. She's my partner. My job is to protect her. I've got her back."

"Yeah well, you don't need that job anymore, dude." Ray said, "That's my job. Back off."

"Ray." Ziva said, but he ignored her.

Tony got into his face, nearly inches away, "I will never stop protecting her. Not until her heart stops beating." And with that, Tony DiNozzo strode out of the apartment, tired, hungry, upset, and jealous all at the same time. The door slammed behind him and he straightened his shirt, jogging down the stairs, keys in hand, muttering to himself, "What a damn orange."


End file.
